Voter discontent? Let us count the ways

OLYMPIA – Anyone doubting 2010 is an extraordinary year in the body politic should consider two numbers: 77 and four.

The first is the record number of proposed initiatives filed with
the secretary of state, which swamps the previous record of 60 in 2003.
There are initiatives to cut taxes, raise taxes, restrict federal
powers, end state programs, legalize marijuana, criminalize martial
arts weapons and force schools to do a better job of teaching the
Declaration of Independence and the state and federal constitutions.
Oh, and trade George Washington’s face on the state seal with
a tapeworm.

A wide array of political persuasions are at work, from perennial
initiative sponsor Tim Eyman and his band of merry activists – Eyman’s
name is on about one in five of the active and inactive initiatives
filed this year – to Bill Gates Sr., who was in Spokane late last week
to drum up support for a proposal to place an income tax on people who
make more than $200,000 a year in exchange for dropping some
existing taxes.

Many initiatives are ideas that have been kicked around the
Legislature for years, such as getting the state out of the liquor
store business. Others want to undo something the legislators did, such
as removing the supermajority requirements for tax increases.

It’s possible that supermarkets will have to schedule petition
gatherers in designated time slots next month, much the way they do
Girl Scout units at cookie time.

The second number, four, is the number of efforts to recall
sitting statewide elected officials, one each for Lands Commissioner
Peter Goldmark and Attorney General Rob McKenna, and two different
petitions for Gov. Chris Gregoire. That, too, may be a record, although
no one keeps good count of such things.

James Vaughn’s attempt to recall Gregoire for, among other things,
signing the bill that temporarily suspends the supermajority needed to
raise taxes, ran aground in Thurston County Superior Court late Friday.
Vaughn, of Orting, had also argued that voters should get a chance to
boot Gregoire for failing to make across-the-board cuts when the budget
forecasts went south and for claiming executive privilege in refusing a
request for documents under the state’s Public Records Act.

Superior Court Judge William McPhee said Vaughn’s request didn’t
meet the state’s requirement that the actions are legally sufficient to
warrant recall –malfeasance, misfeasance, breaking the oath of office –
a standard designed to keep elected officials from getting the boot
midterm for frivolous reasons or unsubstantiated claims.

In the case of suspending the supermajority for taxes, a standard
set by initiative, the judge said Gregoire was handling a bill passed
by the Legislature in a manner set down by the state Constitution: Lege
passes a bill, gov signs or vetoes it.

In other words, you can’t make doing one’s constitutional duty a
recallable offense, even if you don’t like the result. That’s what
elections are for.

Vaughn, who runs a company that specializes in finding jobs for
veterans, represented himself. He was philosophical about his loss and
unsure if he’d appeal. A recall just seemed like one way to address
frustration the public feels about its government, he said.

“I think, for the most part, people feel powerless,” Vaughn said.
“They don’t feel represented. They look at the economy and
they’re scared.”

A self-described “blue dog” Democrat, he has had a few forays into
the political arena, including running for Congress in the 8th District
and filing an initiative in January. His is the one that suggests
changing the state seal to a tapeworm, with the slogan “committed to
sucking the lifeblood out of each and every taxpayer.”

It was meant to be a joke, he said, and he never tried gathering
signatures or even printing petitions. But in the last few weeks, for
some reason, he’s received several phone calls from people serious
about signing.